But the shofar had the added advantage in that it caused a Divine elevation as well. We can now begin to understand the poem that Rav Kook wrote for the month of Elul. This is a preparation for repentance and return, but not a regular individual repentance. Rather, Rav Kook writes of a collective return. In this context we could explain that the shofar awakens us to return to God, in the same way that the Rambam described.
The shofar urges us to wake up and return to God. This is general teshuvah. We could also translate "klali" as collective, and this is the way that we have translated it here.
Rav Kook alludes here to a different type of return to God. Not the return of the individual as an individual. Rather, the return of the individual as part of the return of the collective, the community. The Gemara offers various opinions as to precisely what this means. One opinion is that it refers to flocks of sheep, the other is that it refers to soldiers. See Rosh HaShanah 18a Rashi explains the first meaning thus: "like sheep that are counted in ordered to be tithed.
They leave in single file from the pen through a narrow entrance that only allows one sheep to pass at a time" Rashi ad loc. The sheep needed to be counted individually and walked from the sheep pen in single file, one at a time. The soldiers needed to be counted and walked in a line, one at a time. The Gemara then continues "They are all reviewed in one inspection". This seems to be a contradiction to the previous discussion about the sheep and the soldiers. If each individual comes before God separate from his and her fellows, then how can they all be reviewed together.
The answer to this is that we are judged as individuals but we can only relate to God through the collective, through Am Yisrael. We must stand before God on our own individual strengths and weaknesses.
But we can only hope for Divine forgiveness when we are connected to the collective. We can only turn to Him together with the rest of the nation. We say in our prayers "Bless us our Father, all of us together. But when we come as a part of the whole we are viewed as such. We complement each other and form a perfect cohesive unit called the Jewish people. We come to God as sheep, as an army. Each sheep is different, but ten sheep together form a group that can be tithed. The army is comprised of different individuals who together form a cohesive body called the army.
The army must have different branches and each has their own task. Each is different, each is essential, together they create a large well oiled machine. So it is with the Jewish people. Each person has their own task, that only they can perform effectively.
Together the individual tasks form the collective, the nation. We must come to God as individuals, but also as part of the people. This is essential for us to return to God. We need to fuse together and serve God not only as individuals, but as a community, and as a nation. Therefore before Rosh HaShanah we start to blow the shofar. Some Poskim [25] rule one is not to blow the Shofar at night, even for practice, being the Tekios arouse the supernal attributes which is not to be done during the night.
From other Poskim [26] however it is evident that one may do so even at night. Must one stand when hearing the blows? There is no source for such an obligation although practically the custom is to do so. May one stop in middle of Shemoneh Esrei in order to hear the Tekios? Does one fulfill the above custom of hearing Shofar in Elul through hearing the recording of a Shofar blowing? One is required to hear the live sound of a person blowing a physical Shofar in order to fulfill this custom.
Sparks Of Chassidus. The meaning behind blowing the Shofar in Elul: [31]. The Tur writes that the blowing of Shofar in Elul is practiced in order to arouse one to repent, as the sound of the Shofar brings one to trepidation. This explanation falls in context with the general service of Elul which is to arouse fear of G-D and acceptance of Him as our King. The Tzemach Tzedek explains that this level of fear aroused through the Shofar is a preparation for a higher level of fear which is revealed on Rosh Hashanah through blowing the Shofar.
However in the lower level of fear ones desires for those actions which defy His will still remain, however the fear affects him to control the desire and overcome it. It is to this level of fear that the lower level of fear prepares one for in the month of Elul through the blowing of the Shofar.
Due to this the Sages instituted that every year one is to blow Shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul for the purpose of arousing the people to repent and in order to confuse the Satan. The Rosh then concludes: This is the custom in Ashkenaz-to blow the Shofar in the morning and evening after prayers. In the Shulchan Aruch the Michaber records only this latter custom of the Tur regarding saying Selichos and does not mention the blowing of the Shofar.
The Rama however negates the custom of Selichos in Ashkenaz and states that they are rather accustomed to blow Shofar. From the wording of the Rama it implies that in exchange for the saying of Selichos throughout the month, the Ashkenazim blow Shofar. Perhaps the meaning behind this is that all Jewry begins to do some form of spiritual preparation in the month of Elul, the Sefaradim with the saying of Selichos, and the Ashkenazim with the blowing of the Shofar.
Do Sefardim also blow Shofar during Elul? It is not the Sefaradi custom to blow Shofar after prayer during Elul. It is also customary to recite Psalms communally, each place according to its local practice. From the start of Elul until Yom Kippur, when a person writes a letter to a friend, he must include good wishes for the recipient and blessings that he be inscribed and sealed in G-d's book for a good life,.
Any problems that are found with any other mitzvos should likewise be rectified.
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